The population of the world is aging at a considerable rate, which makes doing so as healthily as possible one of the key challenges of the years ahead.  Self-esteem plays a crucial role throughout our life, but new research from the Tokyo University of Science highlights how our self-esteem ebbs and flows throughout our life.

Whereas traditionally we have believed self-esteem to rise through childhood before dipping in mid-life and then rising again as we age, the study suggests that there is no such decline in self-esteem in Japan up to the age of 69, but there is a decline after that.

The researchers conducted several web-based surveys across a diverse sample of Japanese people between 2009 and 2018.  The surveys utilized the self-esteem scale, which consists of 10 items, to measure self-esteem.

The scale includes items for measuring self-liking, such as “On the whole, I am satisfied with myself”, and items for measuring self-competence, such as “I feel that I have a number of good qualities”. The participants scored each item on a scale of one to five, from “1: Not applicable” to “5: Applicable”.

Fluctuating esteem

The results reveal how self-esteem is often low in adolescence, but then increases throughout adulthood into old age.  This growth from adolescence into middle age is generally consistent with previous research from the United States and Europe, but the Japanese study showed no decline in self-esteem from 50 onwards.  This points to the fact that the trajectory of self-esteem may have cultural differences.

“Previous research has insisted that one of the causes of the decline in self-esteem after middle age in Europe and the United States is that elderly people come to accept their limitations and faults, leading them to have a more humble, modest, and balanced view of themselves. On the other hand, reports have shown that people in Japan have a humbler view of themselves even before middle age. This may be the reason for the lack of decline in self-esteem in this study,” the researchers say.

The paper also highlights other potential factors in these cultural differences, including the general respect for the elderly and the seniority system in Japan.

Generational effects

Indeed, the authors ponder whether generational effects may actually be obscuring the low-esteem felt in older people in Japan and they plan to investigate the issue further via a longitudinal study that tracks people from the same generation as they age.

“Examining the age differences and developmental trajectories of self-esteem is not only academically and theoretically significant, as described above, it also has practical and social significance,” the researchers explain. “For example, understanding when self-esteem tends to be low can help determine when the adoption of effective preventive measures is more necessary, and allow for timely intervention and response.”

The researchers hope that their findings into the age differences in self-esteem can help to inform society as to the best ways to ensure that we age in as healthy a way as possible.